Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod the Mod finds his solo footing, headed for stardom, with the Faces in his wake.
6:00 AM GMT 22/06/2011
Features Disc of the day
The Mars Volta
Frances The Mute
(Universal/Island, 2005)
Second volcanic “head” charge from LA’s afro-delic freak brothers.
Sometimes their hair gets in the way. Then there’s the “emotionally connected” artwork courtesy of Floyd acolyte Storm Thorgerson. And those pesky oblique concepts (this time the album is based on the content of a diary recovered from the backseat of a repossessed car by late bandmate Jeremy Ward – and possibly as a tribute to him following his death from a heroin overdose in May 2003). Listen to Frances The Mute without any anti-prog prejudice however, and it emerges as the triumphant sound of a band bound only by the imagination of its central partnership of guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Indeed, such is the intensity of The Volta’s five-track, 77-minute latino-metal-jazz-punk freak-out that on first listen it is utterly overwhelming. From the Shango-rock opener of Cygnus…Vismund Cygnus through to the The Widow’s epic hooks, the Santana-on-speed vibe of L’Via L’Viaquez (featuring Chili’s man Flea on trumpet no less), and on to the 32-minute-plus suite of Cassandra Gemini (which on the CD version of the album is split into eight tracks at the label’s insistence), Frances builds on the band’s debut, De-Loused In The Comatorium, and references everyone from Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, Refused, The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis. The band’s challenging approach is exemplified by their use of ambient noise soundscapes, typified by the opening four minutes of the 13-minute Miranda That Ghost Just Isn’t Holy Anymore, which consists of a looped chorus of Puerto Rican frogs. Ambitious, compelling and ultimately rewarding, Frances The Mute is a writhing orgy of uneasy listening designed expressly for those prepared to eschew mundane 4/4 time signatures in favour of the complex thrills of 13/8.
Phil Alexander
Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 6:00 AM GMT 26/09/2008
Further Listening
The Mars Volta – The Bedlam In Goliath (Universal/Island, 2008)
The Mahavishnu Orchestra – The Inner Mounting Flame (CBS, 1971)
King Crimson – Larks’ Tongues In Aspic (Island, 1974)
Previous Disc of the day
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Earl Brutus - Larky
Last salvo of Ginsters Pasty-Warholism from Britpop ramraiders.
12:04 PM GMT 08/06/2011
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Loudon Wainwright - T-Shirt
An overlooked small wonder from an unpredictable career.
6:00 AM GMT 03/06/2011
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Landscape - From The Tea-rooms Of Mars… To The Hell-holes Of Uranus
Dry computer club Futurists, upon hitting implausible chart paydirt.
6:00 AM GMT 17/05/2011
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Causa Sui - Summer Sessions Vol 1-3
Epic Danish jams, for when the neighbours get you down.
6:00 AM GMT 12/05/2011
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